Snapshot
by Deranged and Morbid
Summary: One-hundred glimpses into Naruto's life - from beginning to end. Naruto-centric, splashes of KakaNaru. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
1. Snapshot, Abyss

**Snapshot,**** Abyss**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

As mismatched eyes met cerulean blue, the blond-haired man felt a sharp pang of regret wash over him.

'_I'm sorry,'_ his eyes said to the other, expression tired and solemn. _'I'm sorry for being weak, I'm sorry for not being a student you could have been proud of. I'm sorry for letting you down and getting caught.'_

The newly-instated Jounin's eyes fluttered closed in an agonizingly final manner before the wakizashi tore and cut into the delicate flesh of his throat.

Blood spilled in gruesome rivulets and all was silent, if not for just a mere moment.

As if a spell had been broken, the silver-haired ninja lurched forward with a strangled cry, anguish saturating the name that spilt forth.

"_**NARUTOOO!"**_


	2. Snapshot, Disappearance

**Snapshot, ****Disappearance**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

As he watched through blurry eyes, Naruto couldn't help but allow his lips to twist down into a bitter smile.

_Where you're going, Sasuke, is somewhere where I won't be able to follow._

He let out a wet cough, hands subconsciously attempting to stem the flow of blood that dribbled from his wound.

The Fox s**n**a**r**l**e**d, it's great, big nine tails swishing behind in agitation.

**STUPID MORTAL, **it fumed.

The laughter that bubbled up at the back of his raw, raw throat was devoid of mirth.

_Please,_ the boy thought, _tell me something I don't know._


	3. Snapshot, Smile

**Snapshot, ****Smile**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

If he was to be honest … smiling all the time hurt. The gentle expressions one wore when smiling were much more deceitful than frowns and that itself made him wary.

There was also the fact that Naruto himself didn't smile very often.

Not a _real_ smile, anyways. It was almost always faked – forced.

However, the blond acknowledged with a shy curve of the mouth, it was times like these that made him want to weep and shout in uninhibited happiness.

Iruka smiled, nervously scratching at the scar that stretched across his nose. "I hope this is good enough," he murmured sheepishly.

The Jinchruuki beamed, giving a vigorous shake of a head. "It's perfect, Iruka-sensei!"

In response, the Academy teacher laughed, slinging an arm around the man that was like a younger brother to him.

He lit the the candle perched precariously on the cake. "_Happy birthday, Naruto."_ He whispered.


	4. Snapshot, Stepping Stones

**Snapshot, ****Stepping****Stones**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

"Naruto." The soft baritone made him hesitate; tan, calloused digits loosely wrapped about the rusting doorknob.

"Kakashi," the blond intoned, blue-eyed gaze fixated on the ratty mat beneath his feet.

The silver-haired nin's lips curled down in displeasure beneath the form-fitting cloth mask, his visible eye narrowing at the other's defeated posture.

Despair dripped off the Jinchrūki in rolling waves and after a moment, the ANBU Captain sighed, ruffling the signature Hatake-silver spikes.

"It wasn't your fault," he stated gently.

Naruto laughed hollowly. "It wasn't?" He replied, voice chillingly cool.

"No," he confirmed, wrapping an arm around the man's waist. "It wasn't."

The blond sagged into his grasp, sobs choking and suffocating his clogged throat. The tears never fell, though.

The Tokubetsu Jounin had used all of them up a long time ago.


	5. Snapshot, Quicksilver

**Snapshot, ****Quicksilver**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

A delicate smile curled his chapped lips (_so chapped that they split, red smearing the corner of his mouth) _as he sifted through the soft, drying spikes of hair.

"Sleepy?" he murmured against the shell of the older man's ear; breath fanning across the male's angular jaw line.

The ANBU Captain peered up from beneath translucent, shimmery lashes; a light shiver rippling down his spine and to the ends of his toes. "Maa, Naruto .. It's been a long day, _hmm_? Why don't we enjoy ourselves?"

A husky, amused chuckle sounded in the Hatake's ear.

"I'll pitch and you catch?"

**Thank you to my reviewers for the kind words. **


	6. Snapshot, Broken

**Snapshot, ****Broken**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

He leaned back against the desk's chair, idly staring at the drab, nondescript ceiling. _This team will never make it._ It was a disheartening thought, he admitted silently as his gaze slid to the pink-hued hair (_as pink as her namesake) _before dropping to the brooding Uchiha.

His lip curled down.

They would never make it – it was Fate (_and he'd laugh bitterly after the exam with Neji, a sour tang slithering across his tongue – what a hypocrite he was)_.

* * *

Team Seven was never meant to be; consisting of a pink-haired fangirl, an avenger, the village pariah and their pervert of a sensei.

Closing his eyes, he forced a laugh past his lips and crowed in the happiest tone he could muster. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Since we're Genin now, wanna go out with me?"

"YOU BAKA!" She shrieked, leaping up to hit the back of his head.

He grimaced but didn't dodge.

He'd enjoy this sad, pathetic mockery of a family while it lasted: and, he decided, his only regret would be that he was unable stop it from breaking and tearing itself apart.

The door opened and silver-hair peeked through.

_Sad indeed._


	7. Snapshot, Ill - Prequel to Abyss

**Snapshot, ****Ill ****– Prequel to Abyss**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

The Kyuubi's Chakra was eating him from the inside out, he realized with gut-wrenching horror. The immense pain and agony that ricocheted through his chest and licked its way down – and had done so for many years now; steadily and steadily increasing in between the spans of time – wasn't something he could shake off any longer.

His jaw clenched, pearly white teeth grinding together so hard that his bones started to creak and groan from the amount of pressure.

Naruto choked back a terrified sob, sinking to his knees as his vision burst into a brilliant display of white, agony searing and coursing throughout his body.

_I don't want to die … _


	8. Snapshot, Don't Talk

**Snapshot, Don't Talk****  
**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

Kakashi's lips were warm and soft, Naruto mused inwardly, fingers threading through the wild spikes of silver.

It was really a shame that he hid such beauty beneath that mask - but then again, Naruto relented, it wouldn't end well if he got jealous every time someone bumbled around his lover, red-faced and incapable of speech.

_"Really, Naruto," Kakashi chided, glancing over his shoulder. _ _"I think that Doton jutsu was a bit overboard, don't you think? The poor man wasn't even a ninja!"_

_A blank expression met his words._

_"I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't been ogling your ass the entire time we were there."_

_"Maa, Naru, I don't get jealous over people ogling _you_."_

_The blond deadpanned. "No, you don't. You become incensed and somehow manage to get them one way or another. Like that one chunnin-"_

_Kakashi gave the other a sharp glance. "I thought we agreed not to speak of that."_

_The jounin grinned lazily, an amused gleam entering his hellfire blue gaze._

_"Well," he replied, shrugging, "I don't see why you'd get **embarrassed**. It was just a stick-"_

_"Naruto ... _shut up."


	9. Snapshot, He Doesn't Quite Laugh but

**Snapshot, ****He Doesn't Quite Laugh**

_**By**_

_Deranged and Morbid_

Kakashi laughs because he can. He laughs, although it's a rare thing, different from his nervous chuckles and drunken snorts that so many of his companions are familiar with.

It is not something he feels he can do freely, not when his friend- though he hadn't known at the time- is six feet under, never to return.

Sometimes he can still feel the agonizing pain of losing his eye and the equally hurtful procedure to have Obito's own planted within the empty socket. It's like a phantom, grasping him coldly during the barely-wakening hours of morning.

So he doesn't laugh, even though he wants to at times, but sometimes he likes to think he can manage it now, in the presence of the boy that's really quite too young for him to touch.

He touches and loves Naruto anyways, more fiercely than he thought he would, because he's going to Hell, isn't he?

It won't change the way he ends, anyways.

_**I'm so sorry for my absence. Times were hard and I was on the verge of failing mathematics. My computer was only recently returned. –bows-**_


End file.
